A popular seasoning that adds spice to soups, roasted vegetables, noodles, and just about anything else that needs an extra twist, sriracha is a type of hot sauce made from chili peppers, sugar, salt, vinegar, and garlic, with some flavor. Following a cult. Fortunately for hot sauce lovers on a vegan diet, most srirachas are totally vegan.
Why Sriracha is Generally Vegan
Although sriracha can refer to a wide range of different brands, the one most commonly associated with the name is Huy Fong Foods in California (the one with the green cap). Huy Fong’s sriracha is made with sun-ripened chili peppers and garlic that is ground into a fine paste and mixed with sugar, salt, and distilled vinegar.
However, a Thailand-based company called Thaitheparos is considered by many to be the original creator of sriracha. The company’s Sriraja Panich sauce recipe was created more than 80 years ago and contains fresh Thai chili peppers and garlic, sugar, vinegar, and sea salt.
Did you know
The amount of capsaicin (which determines the level of spiciness) in a chili fruit depends on the environment where it is grown. Studies in Thailand and Bhutan have shown that chili plants grown higher up had a higher capsaicin content.
Sriracha is made from red jalapeno peppers, ranging from 5,000 to 25,000 Scoville “heat units” depending on the particular crop. By comparison, the Tabasco pepper ranges from 100,000 to 250,000 units.
When is Sriracha not vegan?
There are a few factors to consider in determining whether or not your sriracha is vegan. While traditional sriracha made with the classic combination of chili peppers, sugar, salt, and vinegar is vegan, some special versions of sriracha contain fish sauce or honey. Also, some ingredients, such as sugar, are considered more controversial vegan additions because of the bone charcoal, which is sometimes used to process cane sugar.
In either case, it’s helpful to check the ingredient list on the back of the bottle to make sure you’re comfortable with your brand of sriracha’s vegan ingredients. This is especially true of special sriracha variations like sriracha mayonnaise and honey sriracha.
Tree hugger tip
If you are unsure about sriracha, there are many other hot sauce options that are vegan. Cholula, for example, is certified vegan with only water, peppers, salt, vinegar, garlic powder, and xanthan gum as ingredients. Tabasco is also vegan, using simply distilled vinegar, Tabasco peppers, and salt.
The sugar problem
Some vegans consider sugar non-vegan because a handful of refineries still use a technique called “charred bone” to filter white sugar (usually with the goal of getting the color as white as possible).
However, not all sugar is refined with charcoal, and the practice is becoming less common in the United States, as it can be more expensive to produce than other options like beet sugar.
It is important to note that organic sugar will not incorporate bone char, as it is against USDA organic regulations.
Types of Vegan Sriracha
Look for these vegan brands of sriracha at your grocery store or local market, but be sure to check the ingredient list as some brands may change their recipes.
For vegans who consider non-organic sugar to be off limits, be sure to look for an organic version or at least one with organic sugar as an ingredient to ensure that the sugar does not incorporate bone char in its filtration process.
However, keep in mind that just because a sriracha uses non-organic sugar does not mean that the particular sugar is made from bone charcoal. For example, Treehugger reached out to Bushwick Kitchen, the company that produces Weak Knees Gochujang Sriracha (which is made with non-organic sugar), and confirmed that their supplier does not use bone charcoal to process the sugar. Huy Fong and Sriraja Panich did not respond when we reached out to ask about the type of sugar they use.
The following brands of sriracha sauce are considered vegan:
Types of non-vegan Sriracha
The following brands are not considered vegan due to animal derived ingredients, such as Worcestershire sauce (which contains fermented anchovies), egg, or honey.
- Trader Joe’s Organic Sriracha & Roasted Garlic BBQ Sauce (contains Worcestershire sauce)
- Lee Kum Kee Sriracha Mayonnaise (contains egg)
- Stonewall Kitchen Honey Sriracha BBQ Sauce (Contains Honey)
- Heinz Honeyracha (contains honey)
- Terrapin Ridge Farms Sriracha Aioli Garnishing Squeeze (contains egg)